Artistic Nurture: Louis Levitt on Building the Sybarite Sound Lab

By Laurence Vittes | From the January/February 2026 issue of Strings

Double bassist Louis Levitt has built a career that moves easily between performing, recording, and teaching. He first came to wide attention in 2011 with Sybarite5, the string-quartet-plus-double-bass ensemble, of which he was a founding member, that broke chamber music conventions and made him the first bassist and Sybarite5 the first string quintet to win the Concert Artists Guild Competition.

Levitt also founded Bright Shiny Things, which has released more than 130 albums, garnering both Grammy nominations and a Grammy win. The label’s mission, he has said, is to help artists “tell their stories in ways that make sense today—not a century ago.”

Speaking from his apartment in Paris, Levitt describes his latest venture, Sybarite Sound Lab, as an incubator where musicians and composers can experiment, collaborate, and build projects of varying size and scope. Some performances may even include live visual art or audience participation. Sybarite5 will navigate these new waters as Sound Lab’s flagship ensemble through the 2025–26 season, and its first Sound Lab project, a program titled “How to Disappear Completely,” takes its name and spirit from Radiohead’s song of the same title. Drawing on the band’s mix of intimacy and experimentation, the program will include new commissions reflecting on social unrest and the power of music to restore perspective.

How did the idea for Sybarite Sound Lab bubble up, and how did you bring it to launch?

I pretty much devoted 20 years of my life to pushing forward the concept of the double bass in chamber music, and subsssequently the double bass string quintet, as being a really valid format that can do great things musically. And I felt like I did that, and there’s now a pile of music about six feet tall and a bunch of recordings, which is fantastic and great, and will continue. But I also wanted to find a way to create new things. What would it be like if you had more flexibility? Sometimes different ensemble combinations might be required. Or, you don’t always need all five people—maybe you need to add different instruments, like Shane Shanahan from Silk Road on percussion. 

I’ve also become more interested in composing and having interactions with composers. Of course, we’ve already commissioned over 150 works at this point, but the idea of having composers within the ensemble—some people who want to write or collaborate—seemed really exciting.

Tell me about “How to Disappear Completely.” 

It’s a new program that explores the power of music to confront societal changes and create moments of transcendence. It’s been inspired by recent disturbing events and by the haunting beauty of Radiohead’s iconic song. It’s going to feature Sybarite Sound Lab with some vocalists in a kind of journey through sound and emotion.

The centerpiece is a new arrangement surrounded by newly commissioned works on the same theme. Each piece serves as a unique response to the times we’re living in, and together they offer reflections on how our shared struggles can become beacons of hope for the future. Composers Andrea Casarrubios, Paul Wiancko, Eric Chasalow, Alex Weiser, Nathan Schram, David T. Little, Curtis Stewart, Shelley Washington, and Scott Ordway are all part of the conversation.

Through this carefully curated program, we want to invite the audience to experience the transformative power of music and hopefully emerge renewed and ready to face the world with fresh perspective and resolve.

It sounds like Radiohead has been a thread in your work for a long time. 

I know [composer and conductor known for “orchestral fusions” like Brahms X Radiohead] Steve Hackman pretty well from Stereo Hideout [orchestra]—I served as principal bass for their Brooklyn concert at King’s Theatre—and Sybarite5 did an all-Radiohead album, Everything in its Right Place, at Carnegie Hall in 2012. We’ve been playing their music for a long time. Typically, there’s one Radiohead piece on our concert programs because we really like them. When things are difficult and stressful—and we’re in stressful times—we go back to the music that comforts us. I’ve always looked to artists I know for answers.

About this particular song—Radiohead’s lead singer Thom Yorke has said if he could be remembered by one piece, it would be “How to Disappear Completely.” He thinks it’s the most beautiful thing they ever did. It’s deeply upsetting, but with a happy ending. I find that both interesting and inspiring.

You’ve talked about wanting to engage audiences more directly. How might that work in the Sybarite Sound Lab?

There are some pieces that we do where the audience gets involved, and with the Sound Lab there might be more room for that. And some of those experimental performance artworks might now be able to tour, which is really exciting. We’ll get to bring more music to more people in more places. The other thing we’re considering is working with graphic artist Kevork Mourad, a Syrian Armenian artist living in New York City, who creates visual compositions during performances. They’re nothing short of outstanding. I love the idea of having him involved in the Sound Lab as an extra dimension.

How has being a bassist shaped the way you think about all this?

The double bass is a pivot—it exists literally in every type of music. You have us in country and bluegrass, in rock bands, in the symphony orchestra, in jazz. Because it plays such a pivotal role, it opens doors for a lot of ensembles. It opens our minds to different styles, no matter what genre we’re in.

When I went to school, they taught me how to play Beethoven. What I wanted to be taught was how to be Beethoven. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that just as the map is not the journey, the score is not the music. You can look at a map and get an idea of where to go, but it’s not the same thing as taking the trip.